Page 131 of False Start

He stiffened in my arms, his little chest expanding before he let out a furious, shaking wail.

Relief seared through me as I kept my eyes on his angry little face.

“That’s it,” I murmured as I clamped his umbilical cord and bundled him in a towel. I wiped him a few more times with the edge of the terrycloth as he screamed, the best damn sound I’d ever heard.

The ambulance rolled into the driveway right as I laid him in Lilith’s arms. “You did it, Mama.”

“Oh, he’s beautiful,” she whispered with tears streaming down her cheeks. She ran her fingertip along the inside of his palm, and he responded right away by curling his wrinkled fist around her, holding on tight. “We did it. Thank you.”

The EMTs rolled in with a gurney and in just a few minutes had Lilith and the baby on their way down the hill.

“You should go with her,” Mayhem said, watching them take Lilith to the ambulance.

“Are you sure?” The tears had dried and the paleness in her cheeks had been chased away by splotches of pink.

“She’s had a hard night. She needs you.”

“Thank you.” There was so much I wanted to say, but no time so I kissed her. Took one more taste of her to take with me and handed her my keys. “So you’re not stuck.”

She slipped them from my fingers and gave me a small shove. “Now, go.”

Lights cutacross the windows just after midnight. I peeked out from behind the curtain and spotted Priest looking at his truck before glancing at the house and looking at his truck again.

I probably should have left.

I planned to. I mean, he gave me the keys to a vehicle with real heat, but then I’d gone up to the barn and gotten everything cleaned up, turned off the heaters, and talked to his grandmother.

It sounded crazy and obviously she didn’t talk back, but for a few minutes, energy simmered in that barn. Maybe because the banked track had been reborn; maybe because Lilith brought her son into the world there; I didn’t know, but I couldn’t walk away.

These people made him…the man I loved, and I’d swear they wanted him home just as much as I wanted him to stay.

Just as much as he wanted to, but didn’t think he deserved to.

When I finally shut off the lights and headed for the house, I worked on salvaging the beautiful mosaic quilt first. While the laundry ran, I explored the downstairs, evidence of his grandparents’ pictures on the wall—their age told in the yellowing at the corners—puzzle boxes worn from repeated use, and the thick magnifying glass lying on top of a stack of crossword puzzle books.

Touches of familiar comfort neither Priest or Lilith seemed too eager to pack away.

The house wrapped around me like a hug and I gave in to the comfort of something lasting. I turned on the lamp important to Priest and snuggled into the easy chair for a while with a curled paperback of Lonesome Dove I slipped from the bookshelf.

I pretended the house was mine.

This family was mine.

My heart aching with the realization that Priest had a few battles to face before he found his way back for good—to this farm and me.

Mama, give me patience for this one. He’s worth it.

He stepped through the door, that quiet intensity so much a part of him back in his eyes. “You stayed.”

“I did for a bit. When do you have to go back?”

“I don’t. Jordan’s home. He called me to give me a heads-up that he planned to surprise Lilith and she surprised him instead.”

“How’s the baby?”

A proud smile curled his lips and my heart rolled over in my chest.

“He’s perfect.”

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